Q and A

Question

When will there be a cure for HIV?

Hello,

Thanks for your answer to my previous question.

I have managed to convince my girlfriend who tested HIV positive not to commit suicide. I told her to take medications for the next few years.

I told her that i was convinced that there would be a cure in the next few years. Are my hopes justified?

In your opinion how long do you think it would take to find a cure if any?

What websites give such information?

Answer

Learning that you have HIV can be tough. But while coming to term with this it should help to know that current treatment means that most people can lead long, normal, lives.

We can do the same things we did in life before we had HIV. This includes sport, work, getting married and having children. Some people even say that finding out they were HIV positive meant that they valued life more than they did before.

Some people make changes in their lives for the better, in ways they might not have done otherwise. Life may be slightly more complicated with HIV, but access to good treatment allows all these things.

When someone is first diagnosed they may not have information, or they may not believe it.  This is why access to accurate information is so important.

As for a cure, I’m sure it will come. In the last five years there has been a dramatic increase in this research. Scientists are making great progress in working on all the sections of this very complex problem.

Science has a way of solving most problems. If not now, then it will happen in the future. But putting a timeline on when is tough. Many of the leading scientists are cautious on this. Many suggest at least ten years is reasonable but an unexpected breakthough could change this.

One part of the challenge for HIV is that the virus becomes part of the genetic material (DNA) of immune cells. Some of these cells, once infected, rest or sleep for many years. Currently HIV drugs only work in cells that are active or awake, but research is looking at ways of targeting those sleeping cells.

This article describes new approaches to cure research:
https://i-base.info/guides/art-in-pictures/the-hiv-cure-puzzle

Even if a cure is a long way off it is not something that I worry about. It will come, and treatment will keep me healthy and alive until then. Following research is a good was to keep informed – both for newer treatments and for research into vaccines and ‘a cure’.

Most HIV organisations have newsletters that report on research from medical conferences. If you email me with which country you live in I can suggest something that may be useful.

Note: The answer was updated in September 2014 from a question asked in August 2007.

180 comments

  1. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Spah,

    An answer to a similar question has been given here:

    https://i-base.info/qa/2575

  2. Spah

    I lost my self.. Sex driver.. Low Libido I don’t do sex anymore .. Is treatment ARV’s okay for me.. I nver smoke. Nver drink alcohol. Am sure am healthy but living with HIV in my blood.. Am sorry guys I have to be honest even my penis is getting smaller

  3. Roy Trevelion

    Hi Sandile,

    Maybe some years ago having HIV was something to be scared about. But today millions of HIV positive people are taking HIV meds and living great and healthy lives. Life expectancy with modern meds can be the same as that for HIV negative people.

    I hope you are on HIV treatment (ART) and that you have support from your doctor or clinic. Talking to people about what worries you can really help, and can give you the support you need.

    In South Africa you can contact the Treatment Action Campaign. They have been working for quality HIV healthcare since 1998. If you contact them they might be able to support you directly or maybe put you in touch with other more local organisations too.

  4. sandile

    hi i have hiv i am 14 years .i am scared .

  5. Roy Trevelion

    Hi Tanky, Over the last five years, there has been a dramatic increase in research into finding a cure for HIV. You can find out more about this complex research here.

  6. Tanky

    It would be great if they do cure it them I would not have to be living with it but it has been 30 years and I do not think it will happen it just like cancer no cure they make more money from the drugs.

  7. Roy Trevelion

    Hi James,
    i-Base regularly publishes on all aspects of HIV treatment, and often reports on cure research when studies are published. See all links from the front page, including HIV Treatment Bulletin.

  8. James

    please update me regularly with the latest hiv cure information.

  9. Lisa Thorley

    Hi Mandla.

    There will always be some cells in your that have HIV but when you have an undetectable viral load, these are mainly cells that are resting or sleeping. Viral load is measured in a small sample of blood, so it won’t pick up the sleeping cells.

    In practice about 60% of people with viral load less than 50 copies/ml, really have less than 5 copies/mL. When you get down to zero/mL, scientists than have to look in bigger samples of blood – ie per litre rather than mL.

    But it is the sleeping cells that are the biggest difficulty because they wake up unpredictably.

  10. Mandla

    if the viral load reduced from maybe 500 to 20 after taking ARVs and CD4 rises say from 20 to 500, what hinders it the viral load to reduce from 20 to nothing? can someone clarify this plz..

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